1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to powertrains and, more particularly, to an interrocker assembly for a powertrain of a vehicle.
2. Description of the Related Art
It is known to provide an interlock between two shift rails for actuating components in a powertrain such as gears and clutches in a transmission. An example of such an interlock prevention device is disclosed in Japanese Patent Application Publication No. JP2007064472. In this patent publication, an interlock prevention device is provided for an automatic manual transmission, which can securely interlock at the time of shifting operation by utilizing actuator operation. The automatic manual transmission is provided with a plurality of actuators which are individually provided to a plurality of shift forks and which can individually operate the plurality of shift forks to move them linearly. With the actuation of one of the actuators, an interlock inhibiting mechanism, which is provided to the automatic manual transmission, regulates the actuation of at least one of the remaining actuators.
However, it is desirable to provide an interrocker to securely prevent two gears from ever being engaged at the same time. In addition, it is desirable to provide an interrocker for situations where two shift rails are not overlapping to allow a rocker arm to reach between two shift forks far apart from each other. In this situation, some manufactures use relatively longer actuators with a cross pin between the two rails that acts as an interlock. However, if shorter actuators are used, a simple cross pin design cannot be used to provide an interlock between two or more shift rails.